Philippines, Mindanao. Carabao (Water Buffalo) Stock Image

This Beast of Burden is put to continuous work from the age of four years up to 15 years and sometimes beyond. It hauls harrows, carts and plows with loads of several tons, dragging itself through the mud up to its belly. These Asian water buffalo is generally considered by most Filipinos to be their national animal, with their tedious and slow pace they are used for preparing the soil in rice fields that are flooded with deep water and as means of transportation. The soil of the rice paddy is initially saturated with the water from the irrigation canals, the carabao will then trample the planting area until it is soggy enough to plant the rice seedlings. The water buffalo loves water, it cools itself by lying in a waterhole, they also feel at home in the many mud holes that can be found near the rice fields, the mud will cake its body and prevent any disturbance from bothersome insects.